I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 14: The Sacrifices Arrive, and So Do the Plague Insects
[After forty-six years of deduction, you have improved the Tier One Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formula, deduction completed.]
In the West Ear Cave of the Ancestral Temple, Shen Can opened his eyes.
Sure enough, there’s a difference between a good student who systematically learns and a slacker. This time, the deduction was quite easy, and his head wasn’t as tired.
He truly understood some of the witch medicine pharmacology.
Sacrificial Master: Shen Can
Martial Arts Realm: Stone-Breaking Realm (Power of Six Desolations)
Sacrificial Artifact: Sacrificial Tripod Cauldron
Quenching Technique: Kui Ox Fist (Top-Grade)
Witchcraft Path: Blazing Flame Division Witch Doctor Technique (Intermediate), Witchcraft (None)
Cultivation Technique: None
Martial Arts Divine Technique: All Transformations Return to One
As his thoughts flowed, Shen Can noticed that his Blazing Flame Tribe Witch Doctor Technique also improved slightly.
After all, the Blazing Flame Division Witch Doctor inheritance doesn’t have much content.
He’s already deduced and improved the Neutralizing and Plague Witch Medicine Formulas, so it’s only natural for the overall Witch Doctor Technique to improve.
With the Neutralizing Medicine Formula for Stone-Breaker and Mountain Opening Realm progression beast blood, coupled with the improved Kui Ox Fist, the probability of tribal Martial Artists progressing to Stone-Breaker or Mountain Opening Realm should increase by double.
Short-term progression of tribal Martial Artists is something he doesn’t need to worry about anymore.
As for the more refined formulas and fist techniques, once Huo Xian retires and he becomes the true Ancestral Temple Sacrifice, it will all be much easier and more convenient.
Quietly, he recorded the two Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formulas on a piece of torn beast skin, preparing to find an opportunity to have the ancestor rupture one more time.
Forgive me once again, ancestor, I won’t dare next time.
Always having the ancestor rupture is rather unfilial after all.
...
"Acan, eat first, and then go to the clan."
In the East Ear Cave, Huo Xian placed a large clay bowl of food on the messy stone table covered with beast skins.
As a successor to the Ancestral Temple Keeper position, Shen Can relieved Huo Xian quite a bit. The tasks Huo Xian used to handle are now given to Shen Can.
Going to the clan to inspect the brewing of the Antidote Soup.
Replacing the clan members’ expired Antidote Pills carried with them.
Checking if the clan members have used Mugwort to properly smoke their residential caves.
For a place where over two thousand people reside, a full inspection takes him almost a day.
...
"Brother Can, can I not drink it?"
In a spacious cave with ear caves lined up on both sides, each ear cave housed a family.
As Shen Can patrolled inside, he was immediately spotted by Huo Yuan, who grabbed his sleeve.
Without hesitation, he pinched Huo Yuan’s nose, took the medicine bowl and, feeling that the medicinal soup wasn’t hot, poured it in.
"Alright, go play."
In this cave, seeing Huo Yuan being force-fed by pinching his nose, the remaining children obediently drank up.
"Brother Acan, the old Ancestral Temple Keeper wants you to go back; Uncle Huo Shan has returned from hunting outside."
...
Shen Can knew Uncle Huo Shan went out but didn’t expect him to think of him on his return, or rather, think of the ancestors.
No wonder he’s a Celestial Vein Martial Artist in training for the tribe.
After returning to the Ancestral Temple, Shen Can sharpened his blade.
Huo Shan brought back a Tier One Mountain-Splitting Kui, and just like the last one, this one is also a bit thin.
What truly surprised Shen Can was the latter half of the night.
He was already asleep but got pulled up.
A strange Jiao Turtle, with legs all over its belly, appeared in the Ancestral Temple.
The entire wild beast was covered with scars, its aura somewhat fading.
Seeing Shen Can come out, Huo Shan hurriedly called out.
"Acan, hurry and offer sacrifices to the ancestors."
Since the rupture of the ancestral tablets, the tribe’s zeal for offering sacrifices has increased.
[The Sacrificial Master seizes the lifespan of three hundred and twenty years from the Tier Two Great Wilderness Exotic Species, Dragon-Scaled Deep Turtle]
After completing the ritual process, the wild beast, not yet fully divided, was wrapped by Huo Shan in pieces of beast skin and sent out in several batches.
The previous Tier Two Wild Beast was also taken away from the Ancestral Temple, and there hasn’t been news of anyone in the clan advancing to the Mountain Opening Realm.
This time, it seems they will take it again.
Only Clan Master Huo Chang could have Huo Shan do such things.
Huo Shan didn’t say anything, and Shen Can didn’t ask, simply focusing on his duties.
At this time, Huo Xian also brought out the prepared Neutralizing ingredients, ready to place them in the blood trough.
Shen Can hadn’t had time to take out the Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formulas. The previous two times he had managed to sneak in, but this time, with the powder already ground by Huo Xian, he had no chance to replace it.
"Master, while wiping the Divine Tablet earlier, I noticed one of the ancestral tablets seemed to have cracked again."
Shen Can immediately spoke up, quickly heading towards the Divine Platform.
He jumped onto the Divine Platform and randomly selected an ancestor, subtly moving the Power of Six Desolations.
"Crack!"
The ancestor ruptured.
When Huo Xian approached, he saw the Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formula in his hand.
Oh, and the abnormally ruptured ancestor indeed.
...
The clan master has come yet again.
Huo Xian stared at the medicine formula on the animal hide for a while before carrying the already ground medicinal powder back to the East Ear Cave.
"First, take the beast’s blood away."
Seeing this, Huo Chang spoke, and Huo Shan quickly moved the trough of beast’s blood out of the Ancestral Temple.
"Uncle Huo Xian?"
Standing outside the East Ear Cave, Huo Chang paced back and forth, wanting to enter but refrained, peering inside the cave at Huo Xian.
Huo Xian, who was almost lying on the desk, finally lifted his head out of excitement and shock when he heard the shout.
"It’s the Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formula!"
"It’s the Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formula!"
"There are both Tier One and Tier Two!"
"The ancestors have manifested!"
Outside the cave, Huo Chang clapped his hands together in excitement.
His lips moved as if wanting to say something but stopped, rubbing his hands and pacing back and forth.
...
"Acan, come help me fetch the medicinal herbs."
The herbs for neutralizing beast’s blood were placed in the cave where Huo Xian resided, and the excited Huo Xian summoned Shen Can to start working busily.
After preparing the herbs according to the witch medicine formula, the pacing clan master Huo Chang at the cave entrance was nowhere to be seen.
The prepared herbs were ground, and Huo Shan came back to take them.
The next day, once again, under the deep night sky.
Shen Can was called up again.
A large and a small black bear, tightly bound with disheveled fur, their mouths tightly strapped shut, beaten half to death, lay in the Ancestral Temple.
Beside the black bears stood Huo Chang, his clothes somewhat damp.
Huo Chang called out to him, "Acan, come to pay respect to the ancestors."
In the ringing sound of the Simurgh Blade, Shen Can’s thoughts fleetingly passed by.
[The Sacrificial Master extracted the life essence of eighty-one years from a Tier One Muddy Mountain Bear]
[The Sacrificial Master extracted the life essence of two hundred eighty-one years from a Tier Two Muddy Mountain Bear]
After the ancestral worship, just like before, the beast’s blood, the beast meat, along with the sacrificial meat, were all taken away by Huo Chang.
...
[The Sacrificial Master extracted the life essence of eighty-seven years from a Tier One Mountain-Splitting Kui]
...
[The Sacrificial Master extracted the life essence of two hundred sixty years from a Tier Two Wild Beast Cyan Fang Wolf]
...
For several consecutive days, every time when the old, the young, and the women in the tribe were asleep, Huo Chang would return with wild beasts.
Similarly, each time, he would also take away the neutralizing herbs prepared by Huo Xian.
No matter how Shen Can tried not to overthink, he understood that the clan master, Huo Chang, must have something in mind.
...
That night.
Shen Can did not sleep.
Waiting for the clan master Huo Chang to return again to avoid being dragged out of bed again.
With a thought, he checked the life essence he had accumulated.
[Life Essence: 1317]
In just a few days, the life essence he had accumulated surpassed a thousand.
At this rate, reaching two thousand years of life essence was not a dream.
Since producing the neutralizing medicine formula, the clan master Huo Chang’s drive was enormous, going in and out of the mountains day and night.
The substantial amount of life essence made Shen Can’s heart itch; he felt he could completely attempt to deduce real witchcraft.
It wasn’t until late at night that Huo Chang returned, though his expression didn’t look good.
"Plague insects have appeared. I saw a few winged plague insects on the cliff one hundred eighty miles away."
After leaving a sentence, Huo Chang hurried back into the clan.
Subsequently, the previously quiet tribe became bustling, with bonfires blazing on the small mountain tops surrounding the clan land, igniting the previously felled and sun-dried wood.
Bags of mugwort were thrown into the bonfires, and smoke mixed with the scent of herbs surged around the tribe.
Previously, the preventive measures were just self-defensive, but the appearance of plague insects indicated an impending epidemic.
...
Huo Shan came from outside, carrying several previously mixed antidote pills.
"Ashan."
Huo Chang called Huo Shan over and spread out a simple map of the surrounding area.
"Profound Water, Jishi, Fushan..."
Huo Chang pointed at the marked locations on the map.
"Take people to check the conditions of nearby tribes. If any tribe shows signs of infection, return and report immediately."
"The antidote soup has been prepared; clothes have also been cooked in the potion, so be careful on the road."
"Alright, I’ll depart now."
Huo Shan nodded, seemingly aware of what needed to be done, and swiftly left the tribe.
Seeing Huo Shan off to the cave entrance, Huo Chang murmured at the night sky.
"May the ancestors protect us, and may the Blazing Flame thrive."
